Up in smoke

As widely reported, a fire in a shopping centre in Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian has killed 14 people, with more bodies likely to be found.

Photo: BBC

Reuters say that the cause could be arson, but, according to the President of Tatarstan, that the managers hadn't complied with safety regulations. This reminds me of a couple of things from my time in Russia.



One is relating to arson. When I worked in Russia, I remember watching a programme on the subject saying that the rates of arson were high and that an owner loses the rights to use the land if the property burns down. While I can't now find anything in relation to the latter point, in terms of the arson rates, one in nine fires in Russia are arson-related, with only 10% of cases reaching court (Moscow Times). As the USSR to Russia, the reasons for arson in Russia changed from protest against the state to business/ gang turf wars. There are also hate crimes involving arson.For reference, in the England and Wales, arson is the single biggest cause of fires (50% of business and  20% home fires) and the detection rate is 8%. So England and Wales has a higher arson rate than Russia, perhaps surprising given that arson is supposed to be committed more often in poorer areas and the UK is wealthier than Russia.

Bogatyr, Surgut. Source, with more images there

Another issue raised by the article is the mention of breaching safety rules. Where I worked, Surgut, there was a large shopping centre called Bogatyr. There was a fire there, pictured above, after I'd left and they think the fire emergency systems didn't work. This doesn't really surprise me. Long before, I'd already heard the rumour relating to the construction of the shopping centre. I was warned not to go in winter because the roof hadn't been designed to cope with the extra weight of heavy snow and was an accident waiting to happen. I later heard that it had originally been planned as two, 2-story buildings for garages, a bit like multi-storey car parks so not fully enclosed, but they turned them into shops and offices, added an extra floor and stuck a roof on to create a central, covered atrium. It sounds like it didn't have planning permission for its final form and, if so, one can only imagine how they managed to circumvent the rules.


Sadly, while planning permission isn't enforced and owners don't follow rules or maintain buildings, this will occur time and time again. For any grumbles you might have in the UK about such bureaucracy, that's why it's there - to keep people safe.